Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1890/01/01 to 1890/12/31

Listed on the Canadian Register:
2008/08/11

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Carberry News Express Building, a two- and one-storey masonry structure erected in the late 1890s, abuts a number of similar-size, turn-of-the-century commercial buildings in a dense block facing onto Main Street within the Historic Downtown Carberry heritage district. The municipal designation applies to the adjoined structure and its lot.

Heritage Value

The Carberry News Express Building, two brick structures unified on the exterior by brick detailing, is valued for the continuity it provides to the street edge which is occupied by several designated heritage buildings of similar scale and character. Of typical brick construction and straightforward design, featuring corbelled brickwork and drip mouldings, the modest structure is part of a continuous row of brick buildings from the late 1890s that represent an important era in the town's development as an agricultural hub. The two-storey structure, an early bank building, and the one-storey structure, a long-time pool hall and barber shop, also recall an important aspect of the community's business and social life. Now occupied by the Carberry News Express and opened into one large space for its printing operation, the solid structure remains integral to the town's historic business street.

Source: Town of Carberry By-law No. 5/2006, June 12, 2007

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the site character of the Carberry News Express Building include:
- its mid-block location, on the east side of Main Street between Third and Fourth avenues
- the building's placement, flush to the sidewalk, abutting other brick structures of similar age and character, and maintaining the continuity of the street edge

Key external elements that define the structure's straightforward design and original function include:
- the basic rectangular form with solid brick walls, flat rooflines with a parapet and stepped side walls
- the symmetrical organization of the primary (west) facades, framed by brick pilasters, and with the southerly section featuring segmental-arched windows with a continuous drip moulding, pediment, etc.
- other details and materials such as the brick detailing at the roofline, limestone sills, a wooden cornice at ground level, etc.

Key internal elements that define the heritage character of Carberry News Express include:
- the main-floor open office space
- surviving materials and finishes including the wood flooring, pressed tin ceilings in the bathroom, etc.